SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Edward B. (Ed) Wile, a 1973 Wofford College graduate and former investment consultant, will be the featured speaker at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, for the college’s opening convocation. Wile also will receive an honorary degree in the humanities during the program, which will be held in Leonard Auditorium in Main Building on campus. It is free and open to the public.
Opening convocation marks the beginning of the new academic year. Fall classes at Wofford begin Monday, Sept 2.
While Wile was at Wofford, he was a star for the Terriers football team and later was named to the Wofford Athletic Hall of Fame. After marrying his college sweetheart, Vickey Key, a Converse College graduate, in 1974, Wile eventually settled in the Atlanta area, where he began a career as an investment consultant, enjoying a 35-year career with UBS (and its predecessor organizations). Wile earned an MBA from Georgia State University.
Wile helped re-energize the Atlanta area Wofford alumni and helped found a Wofford golf tournament in there that remains one of the most successful fundraising events of its kind anywhere.
Wile served as president of the Wofford Alumni Association, and in 1994 helped to co-found the college’s Investment Advisory Committee, advising the college’s board of trustees about investment of the college’s endowment, its largest asset. He has served on the IAC without interruption since helping to start the committee with classmate and friend Mike James. Wile was elected to the Wofford Board of Trustees in 2006 and served as a longtime chair of the Committee on Advancement. He and his family have been consistently generous supporters of Wofford.
Wile is a former chairman of the board of the Atlanta Mission and served on the board of the Northside Youth Organization, where he coached. Among other recognitions bestowed on Wile are the South Carolina Coaches for Charity Jerry Richardson Community MVP Award, PlanAdviser’s Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers, PLANSPONSOR Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers, Barron’s top 1000 Financial Advisers, Southern Conference Distinguished Service Award, Wofford College All-Time Football Team and Outstanding College Athletes of America.
He is the author of a personal memoir, “Mean to Meaningful;” proceeds from the sales of the book are donated to Wofford.